Medición de la actividad en la espondilitis anquilosante

Résumé

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of unknown etiology characterized by inflammation in axial and peripheral joints. Its diagnosis remains essentially clinical. Goals of therapy are symptom relief, to restore of functional ability, to prevent structural damage, and to improve quality of life of patients. A structured evaluation of disease activity might help physicians to deal with these objectives. The ASAS Group have defined a core set of measures recommended in the follow-up of AS patients, including global patient's assessment, vertebral pain and stiffness, spinal mobility, peripheral joints and enthesis involvement, acutephase reactants, fatigue, and physical function. The BASDAI (Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index) is a synthetic instrument more frequently employed to assess disease activity. It extends through domains of fatigue, spinal pain, tenderness or swelling of peripheral joints, enthesopathy, and severity and duration of morning stiffness. BASDAI have been shown to be a valid, reliable, sensitive and feasible instrument to apply in daily clinical practice and research studies. The ASAS improvement criteria and BASDAI 50 can be also used in clinical practice to assess response to anti-TNF drugs.